On this day, March 4th, in Oscar history only...
1937 The 9th Academy Awards are held honoring the best of 1936. Historical epic Anthony Adverse wins the most Oscars (4) but showbiz biopic The Great Ziegfeld takes Best Picture. Some interesting things about this Oscar year: This was the first ceremony with the Supporting acting categories; My Man Godfrey became the first film nominated in all four acting categories and it remains the only film to achieve that without a parallel Best Picture nomination; The Story of Louis Pasteur earned the very weird now impossible distinction of being named both "Best Original Story" AND "Best Adaptation"... the "Best Original Screenplay" category was not yet invented and it did not technically replace "Best Story" as they ran parallel for the first 16 years of Best Original Screenplay...
42's acting quartet: Van Heflin, Greer Garson, James Cagney, Teresa Wright
1943 The 15th Academy Awards are held honoring the best of 1942. The nomination leader, homefront war drama Mrs Miniver, takes Best Picture and five other Oscars. Other Oscar-winning films included Yankee Doodle Dandy, Johnny Eager, Woman of the Year, Black Swan (Cinematography), and My Gal Sal (Art Direction).
1966 The infamous Hollywood-on-Hollywood movie The Oscar starring Stephen Boyd his movie theaters. Despite savage reviews it's nominatd for Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction --we covered in our Production Design column The Furniture.
1983 Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies opens in movie theaters with little promotion. Despite the early release and financial failure, it later snags 5 surprise Oscar nominations including Best Picture and wins Robert Duvall his only Oscar. (The Oscar race was much different back then!)
2018 The 90th Academy Awards are held honoring the best of 2017. Shape of Water takes Best Picture but it really should've been Lady Bird which goes home empty-handed.
Today's Birthday Suits, Oscar-only edition
The always riveting two time nominee John Garfield (Four Daughters, Body and Soul, Gentleman's Agreement)
And happy 80th birthday to Best Director nominee Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction) who excels at erotic dramas (see also: Flashdance, 9 1/2 weeks, Indecent Proposal, Unfaithful). Next up for Lyne is the thriller Deep Water with Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas, due this August in movie theaters. It's his first feature in almost 20 years so we're hoping for the best.
Also: Oscar nominated writer/director Scott Hicks (Shine), Oscar winning producer/writer David Franzoni (Gladiator), Oscar nominated animator Ward Kimball (It's Tough To Be a Bird), Oscar winning cinematographer Jean Bourgoin (The Longest Day)